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Celebrating 122 yrs. of the Puerto Rican Flag

There's nothing that makes me prouder than my Puerto Rican flag. I'm committed to instilling in my son the same pride that I feel when I see it!  As I look at the flag I can't help but start humming & singing, ♫¡Que bonita bandera, que bonita bandera, que bonita bandera es la bandera Puertorriqueña!♫ 



Today, our flag celebrates it's 122nd birthday! On June 11, 1892 Antonio Vélez Alvarado from Manatí, Puerto Rico was inspired to create our flag while living in New York.

The Puerto Rican flag has two very important dates June 11, 1892 when it was created, and December 22, 1895 when it was first used by a group of Puerto Rican patriots whom adopted the flag as a national symbol representing Puerto Ricans. However, it wasn't until July 25, 1952 that it was officially adopoted as the national flag when Puerto Rico became a Commonwealth of the United States.


Source: Fotografía Cole (Flickr/Creative Common)
The Puerto Rican flag symbolizes the patriotism, and unity of over 8,000,000 of Puerto Ricans in the world.

The flag is similar to the flag of Cuba.  The red stripes are symbolic of the "blood" that nourishes the three branches of its government; Legislative, Executive and Judiciary.   The white stripes represent individual liberty and the rights that keep the government in balance. The blue triangle stands for the "Republican Government", represented by the three branches, and the white Lone Star represents "The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico."

It is said that the "blue" part of the Puerto Rican flag is actually a sky blue, and not a deep blue. That the deep blue was used to make it look similar to the United States flag, when Puerto Rico became a Commonwealth. Whether sky blue, or deep blue Puerto Ricans are proud of their flag! It's part of our identity our, and our culture. 

Looking for a fun Puerto Rico flag craft to do with the kids? Check out B-Inspired Mama's patriotic flag craft. It's a hand print painted flag, and it looks just like the Puerto Rican flag!  You can also print out this flag from DLTK's Puerto Rico flag coloring page, and have your children color it. 
With Abuela when she came to visit from Puerto Rico. 

Here's to 122 more years of celebrating the Puerto Rican flag!

This post was created for inclusion of this month's MKB Multicultural Carnival hosted by Kid World Citizen.